Through the Years
by Crystalbluu
Summary: Gabriella and Troy have been friends for what seems like forever, but various things in life pull them apart. Will Troy finally notice what's been in front of him his entire life? Troyella one-shot.


A/N: Well, I needed to take a study break because finals are coming up and this idea has been sitting on me for a few days. I will be updating 'Diary of a Nerd' ASAP, so you don't need to worry.

* * *

The little girl with curls maneuvered into pigtail braids sat in the sand, silently letting the pebbles run through her small fingers as she watched the other kindergarten children around her. She was new in town, and so far her first day of school consisted of watching her fellow classmates play with each other while she sat shyly in a corner. The girl sighed softly and began to make a castle out of the sand. A moat followed, and then she crafted a bridge. She smiled slightly at her creation, but her joy was short lived when an unfamiliar shoe landed smack into the top of her tower.

Looking up from the castle's crumbling walls, her chocolate brown eyes fell upon a boy with short, spiky hair and bright blue eyes. The only abnormal aspect of his attire which consisted of a pair of blue shorts and a _Nike_ T-shirt was a shoe-less foot.

"Hi," he chirped, hopping on one foot in an attempt to not dirty his sock. "That's my sneaker."

The girl continued to stare at him before saying, "You declared war on my castle."

"I what?" the boy asked, now dropping his foot to the ground. At this time another boy with unruly curly hair scampered over with a slight frown on his face.

"Troy," he said, not taking notice of the little girl. "C'mon, we didn't finish our game of shoe-football."

"I declared war on her castle, Chad" Troy replied, smiling and falling to sit in the sand. His hands quickly molded a mountain and he grabbed a leaf, sticking it atop the pile of sand proudly.

"_That's_ your castle?" the girl asked smartly, shaking her head. "Princess Gabriella's castle has a moat that can block out your knights."

"Oh, yeah?" Chad asked, and he reached into the pocket of his pants and pulled out a green, plastic army man figure and placed in in front of Troy's mountain. "Well, this guy can kill your armies any day."

Gabriella smiled, plucking Troy's shoe from her castle. "And I still have this." With that, she tossed the shoe straight into the boys' mountain causing an avalanche to drown it's green protector.

"NO!" the both shouted. "Ambulance!"

"Chad? Troy?" said an African boy. "It's snack time, and Mrs. Clark said we have to go inside."

"Okay, Zeke," Troy said, standing up and retrieving his shoe from the sand pile. He and Chad started following Zeke inside when he turned around to see Gabriella still sitting in the sandbox.

"Are you coming?" he asked.

Gabriella bit her lip, reluctantly standing up and dusting off her dress. "I don't have a snack," she said.

Troy grinned. "We can share mine," he replied simply.

_A time when one didn't need to know the name of a person to instantly become best friends._

* * *

"Gabi!" came a sharp, muffled voice followed by a knocking on the glass sliding door. "C'mon, open up!"

Gabriella groaned in her bed, shielding her eyes from the sunlight that was streaming into her room from her balcony door. When she finally opened her brown eyes, they fell upon a boy who was standing impatiently outside. She smiled, leaping out of her bed to let her best friend inside her room.

"Jeeze," he said, whacking her arm lightly as he stepped onto her bedroom carpet. "Took you long enough."

"Ow, Troy!" she hit him back with a mock frown. "And is it my fault that you get up at seven in the morning?"

Troy shrugged. "Gabi, it's _summer_. We have three whole months before we have to face the sixth grade. I'm just trying to make the most of it."

Gabriella smiled, turning around to make her bed. "Well," she said. "I guess you're right. . . What did you want to do today?"

"I was thinking we could walk down to the pond and catch tadpoles," Troy replied, gesturing to the small net he had left on her balcony.

"Okay!" she agreed happily. "Just let me get dressed, and we'll go."

Troy grinned, nodding. "K', I'll meet you in the front yard."

Gabriella watched him climb down the tree from her balcony for a few moments before getting dressed. It wasn't an unusual thing to see him on her balcony after all the years they had been best friends. He would randomly show up at night, and the two would have a secret sleepover or they'd sneak over to Chad Danforth's house to pull pranks on him while he slept. They were the inseparable duo, glued together at the waist.

Gabriella quickly pulled on a pair of shorts, a T-shirt, and the baseball cap Troy had given her for her birthday the year before. After she had journeyed down the tree to her front yard, she and Troy made their way to the pond that lay a mile or two down the street.

"Got some!" Troy exclaimed some time later, brandishing the tadpoles in his net. "Hand me the jar, Gabi."

Gabriella reached over and tossed him the glass jar filled with the pond water. "And in a little while we'll have a few frogs to throw at Sharpay Evans."

"Excellent," Troy said, grinning evilly.

Sharpay Evans was the exact opposite of Gabriella Montez. She was rich, for one, and she would rather die then go searching for tadpoles in a slimy pond. Sharpay and her twin brother, Ryan, would tramp across their elementary school as if they owned it. Or, rather, as if Sharpay owned it and Ryan was her assistant. She demanded everything to be done her way, to which Gabriella and Troy had responded with various incidents that involved paint, slime, and Chad's year-old bagged lunch.

When the two had scavenged every last tadpole from the pond, they found themselves lounging underneath an old oak tree. Troy reached into his battered knapsack and pulled out two sloppily made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. He handed one to Gabriella who giggled upon seeing it.

"What?" Troy asked, opening his sandwich. "I'm getting better. At least this time there's no jelly on the outside of the bread."

"And I bet by high school you'll be a pro," she answered jokingly.

Troy laughed, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "I'll take that bet."

"Hey, Troy?" Gabriella asked suddenly. "Do you think we'll still be friends in high school?"

"Duh," he replied thickly through his mouthful of peanut butter. "You're my best friend, Gabs, why wouldn't you be?"

She shrugged, gazing up at the leaves on the tree. "I don't know. I guess because it's such a long time away."

Troy nodded, crumbling up his sandwich wrapping and throwing it into his knapsack. However, he also pulled out his boy scout pocket knife. He turned around, flipping the blade open.

"Troy?" Gabriella asked, placing her half eaten lunch on the ground. "What are you doing?"

He didn't answer but promptly began carving something into the trunk of the oak tree. Gabriella watched, and immediately recognized the first symbol. "_G. A. M._?" she asked, still watching Troy work. "Those are my initials."

"I know," Troy replied gruffly, now working on a _'T'. _"Just wait a second."

Gabriella quieted, watching her best friend etch his own initials into the tree trunk. When he was finally finished, Troy pulled away and the two looked at what he had carved.

_G.A. M. & T. A. B._

_BFF_

"Wow, Troy," Gabriella said quietly. "You do know that this will never fade away, right? We could come back her when we're one-hundred and it'd still be here as long as the tree isn't cut down."

"Yup," Troy replied, snapping his knife closed. "Exactly my point. We're best friends, Gabriella Anne Montez."

She giggled, retrieving her sandwich from the ground. "Forever, Troy Alexander Bolton."

_A time when nothing stopped two people from being friends._

* * *

Gabriella walked up the steps of her best friend's house, eyeing the exterior fondly. Everything about it was acutely familiar, from the broken tire swing in the front lawn to the cracked lawn statue. Instead of ringing the doorbell, she simply walked straight inside. Years before Troy's parents had granted her access inside their home without her having to knock. She was inside with Troy so much, she practically lived there herself.

"Troy?" she called, closing the front door behind her before walking up the stairs.

"I'm in my room!" came a voice from down the hall.

She walked to the familiar door and pushed it open to see Troy Bolton strewn across his bed tossing a basketball pillow up and down. "Hey," she said, sitting on his bed with him. "Watcha doing today?"

Troy stopped what he was doing and sat up, throwing the pillow at his friend. "I dunno. Want to go to the park and play basketball, or something?"

"I'm hoping you mean with a real ball, and not this thing," Gabriella said playfully, examining the pillow in her hands. "Because if you think switching the balls is going to help you beat me, you've got another thing coming."

Troy laughed, running a hand through his shaggy hair. He had grown it out a little over half-way through seventh grade. "So the ball is the reason you win? What, is it your lucky ball?"

"Maybe," Gabriella replied slyly. "Or maybe you're just getting worse every time you play."

"We'll see about that, Montez."

Half an hour later found the two teens in a heated one-on-one match at the East Albuquerque park. Troy was winning by three points, and Gabriella was catching up steadily.

"She shoots!" Gabriella exclaimed, releasing the ball from her fingertips. "Aaaaaand she scores! Three pointer for Miss Gabriella Montez," she shouted, dancing around Troy playfully. "Is Troy Bolton slowing down?"

Troy shook his head, panting slightly. "Maybe if you hadn't jumped on my back I wouldn't have dropped it." He grinned, retrieving the ball from the ground. "That should be a foul, you know."

"You're just jealous that you can't jump on my back, Bolton," she replied, tucking a curly strand of hair that had escaped from her ponytail behind her ear.

"Oh, I could jump on your back, Gabi," he said, bouncing the ball as the two got into the starting position. "You'd just collapse beneath me."

She laughed, then stopped when he bounced her the ball and said, "Check." She made a run for the hoop, narrowly avoiding Troy's attempts to steal the ball. Gabriella was nearly there . . .

"Don't make me jump on you, Montez," Troy called, and then he grabbed her waist, lifting her from the floor.

"No! NO! Troy, stop," Gabriella squealed, still holding the ball away from him as he spun her around.

"Hey, Troy!" a voice suddenly called. The two friends looked up to see Chad Danforth, Zeke Baylor, and Jason Cross standing beside the court.

Troy immediately set Gabriella back on the ground and ran over to greet his friends. "Hey, dude, what's up?" he asked, high-fiving his three buds.

"We were gonna come down here to practice for the East High basketball team tryouts that start next week on the first day of school," Zeke replied.

"Yeah, we called your house and your mom said you might be here," Chad said.

Troy grinned, not taking notice of Gabriella who had appeared beside him with the basketball. "Awesome! I want to make the JV team my freshman year."

"Hi, guys," Gabriella said, smiling at the newcomers.

"Oh!" Troy said, turning to Gabriella as if he had just remembered she were there. "Um, Gabi, the guys and I really need to practice before tryouts next week."

"Yeah, I know," she said. "First year of high school, you guys want to make the team."

"Right," Troy said. He reached over and took the ball from her fingers. "So we really need to practice."

"That's fine, I'll help you guys. We can split up into teams," she said, not getting what Troy was trying to tell her.

"No, Gabs," Jason said. "We _really_ need to practice."

Gabriella frowned, confused. "I know . . ."

"Gabi," Troy said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You're a good basketball player and all, but we need to play really hardcore."

"And we can't do that with a girl," Chad said.

Gabriella's eyes widened, and she shrugged Troy's hand off her shoulder. "Oh, uh. Okay, I'll just . . ."

"I'll talk to you later, Gabi," Troy said quickly, trying to make her feel better.

"Yeah," she replied faintly. "Later."

She turned, walking slowly off the court to the sounds of Troy and his friends cheering as they started their game. Every once in a while, she would glance back to see Troy having fun and laughing. And then she could no longer see him anymore.

_A time when priorities are made prominent._

* * *

"Hello?" came a voice from the other side of the telephone.

"Hey, Troy," Gabriella said, twirling the curled telephone cord around her finger. "Wanna do something today? Like, I don't know . . . See a movie?"

"Oh, hey, Gabs. Yeah, why not? Which one?"

"I don't know," she paused, trying to remember which films were playing at the theaters. "We could see _Sweeney Todd_."

"Isn't that rated 'R'?" Troy asked.

Gabriella chuckled. "It's never stopped us from sneaking in, before."

"Right," Troy replied. "So, uh. Meet you at your house around seven?"

"I'll be waiting," Gabriella said, now unwinding the cord.

"Alright, then. Talk to you later," Troy said.

"Yeah, okay. Bye."

Gabriella hung up the phone, sighing softly. She had hoped to maybe talk to Troy a bit even after making their plans. It seemed that they didn't speak half as much in their sophomore year as they did in freshman year. Troy was either busy practicing basketball because he had made varsity, or she herself was studying for her honors classes. Their schedules just didn't seem to match anymore.

As six-thirty rolled along, Gabriella found herself gazing into her closet, trying to find something to wear. She had long traded in her skateboard shoes and baseball caps for sandals and headbands. True she never wore miniskirts like East High cheerleaders, but she let her hair out of it's ponytail most days and even wore a tiny bit of mascara.

She finally decided on a pair of light-wash jeans, a brown baby-doll top that brought out her eyes, and matching golden flats. By the time she had dried her curly hair and smoothed on clear lip-gloss, the clock read seven-fifteen.

_Okay_, she thought, grabbing her purse and heading downstairs. _Troy's usually a few minutes late. I'll watch a little TV until he comes._

She hadn't counted on watching two entire episodes of _Friends_. When eight twenty approached, she began to worry.

_What if something terrible happened to him? What if he was in an accident, a truck hit him while he was walking over here?_

The more she thought about it, the more anxious she became. Finally she came up with a safer, better solution.

_I was probably supposed to meet him at the theater at seven. Not here at my house. He's probably been waiting for me this entire time by the ticket stands._

With that thought, she grabbed her purse and began to walk to the theater by herself. By the time she arrived at the Albequerque Mall, her cellphone told her it was nearly nine o'clock. She began to walk through the shops, looking in various windows for any signs of Troy.

Finally, as she was walking past _Rick's Pizzaria_, Gabriella spotted two people from the corner of her eye. They were kissing, or rather, making out would be a better explanation as the boy's hand slid down the blonde girl's back. Gabriella backtracked and then gasped as she realized who the two people were.

Troy Bolton, her best friend for nearly ten years, was kissing Dana Tremp, the head cheerleader of East High. Dana had earned the name 'Dana Tramp' because of how she made her way through all the boys at school. And yet there she was, sucking out Troy's tonsils for the entire mall to see.

_He stood me up_, Gabriella thought, tears coming to her eyes. _He stood me up for the girl who's been calling me 'Geeky Gabi' since eight grade. He lied to me, left me for a girl who would hone his hormones. _

Gabriella wasn't sure what happened next, but all she knew was that the next second she was marching right up to Troy and tapping him on the shoulder. He and Dana pulled away from each other, dazed.

When Troy finally turned his head to see who had interrupted them, his eyes went wide when he saw it was Gabriella. "Oh, shit, Gabs," he said. "I totally forgot, what time is it?"

_That's all he has to say? WHAT TIME IS IT? Not even, 'Sorry, I stood you up so I could get lucky tonight'. _

Gabriella grinned, finally letting the tears fall down her cheeks. "You know what Troy? I don't know why I'm not surprised. I mean, half the school's been questioning why we were friends, anyway. 'Why is that geeky decatholon girl friends with East High's star basketball player?' And you know what? They're right. I shouldn't be friends with you. Even though we've been friends for nearly ten years, you're not the same guy anymore.

"Troy Alexander Bolton would never blow me off for some slut. Troy is the best guy I have ever met. I love him more than anything. But you? You're not Troy Bolton. You're the basketball guy, the captain. And because I have always stayed true to myself, Gabriella Montez would never be friends with _that_ guy. So _fuck_ you, Troy. _Fuck. You._"

With that, she shook her head and turned her back on Troy, ignoring his calls of her name. She stayed up until three in the morning that night, waiting for the soft blue eyes and shaggy hair to appear on her balconey like old times. They never did.

_A time when peers cloud one's better sight._

* * *

"So, Gabs, you're going to Prom tonight, right?" Taylor McKessie asked Gabriella. The two had become good friends since being on the scholastic decatholon for nearly four years.

"Why?" Gabriella asked as she finished stuffing her remaining books from her locker into her backpack.

Taylor shrugged, then said, "Well, I know you said last week that you weren't, but I heard a rumor that the captain of the football team, Jake Byrant asked you to go with him today."

Gabriella shut her locker with a snap, then turned to Taylor. "Yeah, he asked me."

"So are you going?" Taylor asked excitedly. "Because if you are, maybe you can come in the limo with Chad and I."

"First of all," Gabriella started. "Troy would be in the same limo with _his_ date. So I wouldn't go with you guys. Second of all, I'm going with Jake and his fellow football friends out to dinner and then to the prom."

Taylor squealed, hugging Gabriella. "Ooooh, that's so great, Gabs!" She paused, then said, "When are you ever going to stop being weird around Troy, anyway? You guys used to be best friends, then randomly one day you hate him. Are you ever going to tell me what happened?"

Gabriella remained silent as the two walked to her car in the school parking lot. "Maybe some day, Taylor. I know it's been two years, but he really hurt me. I lost my best friend that day."

"I know, Gabriella," Taylor said sympathetically. "It's just weird. I mean, hasn't he been trying to talk to you?"

Gabriella laughed. "Saying 'sorry' when we bump into each other in corridors is hardly considered talking, Tay. He doesn't care about me anymore. I'm dead to him."

The two girls climbed into the front seats of Gabriella's car. "Chad said he talks about you, though," Taylor advised. "Are you sure you don't want to at least say 'hi', or something?"

"Taylor, you and Chad have been pushing me to do this for a year," Gabriella said, pulling out of the parking lot. "I have yet to see Troy try to makeup, and he's the one at fault."

"Okay," Taylor said dejectedly.

"Let's do something more important," Gabriella said. "Because as of right now, I don't have a Prom dress."

The night of the Prom found Taylor slow dancing with her boyfriend, Chad Danforth. Though she was enjoying the feeling, she couldn't help herself from searching for Gabriella over Chad's shoulder.

"Have you seen her yet, Chad? Taylor finally asked, pulling back.

Chad shook his head, his own brown eyes scanning the dark room filled with dancing couples. "Maybe you should check the bathroom, Tay. She could have come in when you weren't looking and gone in there to freshen up, or something."

Taylor kissed her boyfriend on his cheek. "Thanks, hon, I'm going to go look."

Taylor made her way through the rowdy high schoolers until she finally reached the women's restroom. She pushed the door open, and after a quick glance around the room, she was disappointed to see no Gabriella. Taylor sighed and decided to reapply her lipgloss while she was in the bathroom. She was just fishing the tube out of her clutch when two girls beside her started talking.

"Do you think she would do it? I mean, it's obvious she's been in love with Troy Bolton since middle school."

"I don't know, really. Kevin only mentioned Jake wasn't really planning on bringing her to the prom at all. That's why they're not here now. He said after dinner Jake was going to bring her somewhere."

Taylor dropped her clutch to the floor, then hurriedly picked it up and continued to listen intently. She realized the two girls beside her were the girlfriends of Jake Bryant's fellow football players.

"So that's why they weren't in the limo!"

"Yeah. I kind of feel bad for her, actually. Gabriella's such a nice person and Jake is such a manwhore. He's probably going to just screw her and dump her on the spot."

"I'm just glad our dates aren't like jake. He's such an ass."

Taylor wasted no more time, and nearly fell over as she sprinted out of the bathroom to find Chad. She had to do something, she couldn't let that happen to Gabriella! Luckily Chad's bushy hair was a dead giveaway and she spotted him within a few minutes. He was speaking with Troy and his date, some cheerleader.

"Chad!" Taylor gasped, nearly crying. "Oh, my god, Chad!"

Chad immediately stopped talking and hugged his girlfriend who was now sobbing into his jacket. "Tay!" he exclaimed, slightly shocked. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"It's Gab-Gabriella," she stuttered between sobs. "She's in tr-trouble."

"What?!" Troy gasped, his arm dropping from his date's waist. "Why's she in trouble, Taylor? Where is she?"

"I heard s-some girls talking in t-the bathroom," Taylor said, trying to calm herself down. "They said her date, J-Jake Byrant was g-going to take ad-advantage of h-her!"

The color drained from both Troy and Chad's faces. Jake Byrant wasn't on the football team for nothing. He was strong, really strong. Petite Gabriella didn't have a chance against him.

"Where are they?" Troy asked quickly. "Do you know what restaurant they went to?"

"N-no," Taylor said, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth.

"Fuck," Troy said, then turned and sprinted away, diappearing into the crowd.

Chad shushed his crying girlfriend, holding her tightly. "It's okay, Tay. Gabriella's going to be alright. Troy's going to save her."

"What about me?" Troy's date suddenly asked, crossing her arms and frowning.

Troy was pushing people out of the way, his blue eyes scanning the room for the one person he needed. "Dad!" he shouted when he spotted his father who was a chaperone at the Prom. "Dad, I need your car."

Jack Bolton eyed his son wearily. "You're sober, right?"

Troy grunted in annoyance. "Dad, I'm fine. Gabriella's in trouble, _please _give me your keys."

Jack stared at Troy for a moment, bewildered before he reached into his sport jacket and pulled out the car keys. "Be safe, Troy."

Troy only stayed long enough to thank his father before rushing out into the cold night air. It was raining, and Troy was soaked within minutes. His life became a blur as he raced to his dad's car. Gabriella was in trouble. _His_ Gabriella. His old best friend . . . Memories flashed before his eyes as he stared at the dark street.

"_I don't have a snack," she said._

_Troy grinned. "We can share mine," he replied simply. _

"_Yup," Troy replied, snapping his knife closed. "Exactly my point. We're best friends, Gabriella Anne Montez."_

_She giggled, retrieving her sandwich from the ground. "Forever, Troy Alexander Bolton."_

"_Don't make me jump on you, Montez," Troy called, and then her grabbed her waist, lifting her from the floor._

"_No! NO! Troy, stop," Gabriella squealed, still holding the ball away from him as he spun her around._

"_Troy Alexander Bolton would never blow me off for some slut. Troy is the best guy I have ever met. I love him more than anything."_

She loved him more than anything. Ten years of laughing together. Ten years of sleepovers and pranks. Ten summers and school years. Ten years of being there for each other when one was in need.

She was there for him when his dog ran away in the first grade. He had held her sobbing form when she found out her father had cancer, stood by her at the funeral. When his first girlfriend dumped him after two weeks, she had told him the girl was an idiot for letting someone as great as he was go. They had cried when her mother told them they would be moving away and lept with joy when it turned out they weren't leaving after all. She had never failed to be there for him, no matter what stood in her way. She had loved him, and he had failed her.

Troy bit his lip, fighting the tears that were threatening to form. Being angry at himself wasn't going to help Gabriella. He pressed on the gas pedal, speeding until he reached the familiar street of Gabriella's house. He couldn't think of anywhere else to go to, and when looked up into her balconey sliding door and saw movement, Troy nearly sobbed on the spot. Luckily the rain was disguising his tears.

He could have made the climb up the tree with his eyes closed; the familiar notches and handgrabs were nearly worn into the trunk from the millions of times he climbed it in the past.

Gabriella was in her room, still sobbing even though the entire ordeal had happened nearly an hour before. She had scrubbed her body multiple times in attempt to cleanse herself of Jake Byrant, and yet she still felt dirty. The dress she and Taylor had spent hours searching for was slightly torn, and now lay in her trashcan. She gulped, turning away from it and switching off her bedroom light. She curled up into a ball on her bed, listening to the howling rain and claps of thunder.

_Wait . . . That wasn't thunder. _

Gabriella looked up from her pillow and her eyes widened when she saw something she hadn't seen in nearly two years. Troy Bolton. Standing on her balconey, soaking wet and knocking on her sliding door.

Another sob wracked her body as she forced herself to stand up. She slumped to the door and slid back the glass door, leaving the screen shut. "What do you want, Troy?" she shouted over the rain. "Did Jake go running to everyone? Did he tell the entire school?"

Troy shook his head, staring down at Gabriella. Her cheeks were tear-stained and mixed with old mascara. What killed him the most was bruises that were forming around both her forearms. "Are you okay?" he yelled through a crack of thunder.

Gabriella sobbed, hugging herself. "NO! I'm not okay! I never will be okay! I was sexually harassed by my fucking Prom date tonight! My dad's dead, and my mom is a workaholic trying to provide me with a good life! The entire school is going to think that I am not only a geek, but now probably a slut! And the worst of all, my best friend who promised me we'd always be there for each other left me for popularity in sophomore year!" She broke down, kneeling on the carpet, shaking.

Troy slid the screen door open, and even though he was soaking wet, he grabbed her and held her against him as she sobbed. "I'm so sorry, Gabi," he whispered into her ear. "So sorry."

He cradled her in his arms until she calmed down, running his fingers through her hair and whispering sweet nothings in her ear. Sometime later he shut the sliding door and carried her to her bed, spooning against her while they listened to the rain patter against the roof.

Gabriella slowly turned over, staring into Troy's eyes in the dark. He was gazing at her in a way he never had before. "Troy . . . Why did you come back?" she whispered.

Troy swallowed, reaching over to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I think you were always mine, Gabriella," he whispered, smiling fondly at her. "From the time we first met and I accidentally threw my shoe into your sand castle."

Gabriella giggled slightly, but stopped as Troy continued. "I just never noticed the best thing for me, the thing I loved the most, was beneath my nose for over half my life."

He took a deep breath, then leaned over and kissed her. The moment their lips touched, everything felt right. They fit against each other perfectly, like a jigsaw puzzle. Troy pulled away from Gabriella, watching as her eyes fluttered open. "I need to know something," he said, his hand resting on her cheek tenderly. "Did he rape you?" he asked softly, anger coursing through his veins even as he said it.

Gabriella blinked a stray tear from her eye, and she sighed heavily. "No."

That one word caused such relief to spread across Troy that he felt as if a huge weight was lifted from his stomach and shoulders. "So . . . You're okay?" he asked.

Gabriella smiled slightly, and kissed him softly. When she pulled away, she snuggled up against him. "Never been better," she whispered.

_A time when true feelings bubble to the surface._

* * *

Eighteen year-old Gabriella hopped off the tree branch to land soundlessly into her boyfirend's arms. She giggled into his shoulder as he spun her around slightly before setting her down.

"I don't know how we used to do this almost every night when we were little," Troy said, clutching Gabriella's hand as the two walked carefully down the road in the dark.

"Didn't you have night vision goggles?" Gabriella asked jokingly.

Troy groaned, shaking his head. "Don't even mention those, woman. Whatever happened to them, anyway?"

Gabriella shrugged, turning to a familiar trail and pushing a bush aside. "Didn't we use it to launch water-baloons at Sharpay until she stomped on it with her stiletto?"

"Oh, yeah," Troy said. "She still owes me twenty-two dollars for breaking it."

The two laughed, but stopped when they reached their destination. The moon lit up the pond, casting an eerie glow upon it and it's inahbitants. Troy led Gabriella to the old oak tree and pulled her onto his lap.

"I can't belive we're graduating tomorrow," he said softly.

"I know," Gabriella replied. "But we'll be fine. College will be an adventure. And you're playing basketball for UCLA."

Troy gazed upon his girlfriend, smiling. "And you'll be my personal cheerleader, right?"

"I'll be more than that," she whispered, and they kissed in the moonlight until Troy pulled away.

"There's still one thing left to do tonight," he said, pulling his knife out of his pocket.

"What?" Gabriella asked, moving off his lap as he turned toward the tree trunk.

Troy flipped the blade out and they both stared upon the symbols that had already been carved seven years ago. He dug the blade into the bark and crafted a heart around the initials.

"There," he whispered, placing the knife back into his pocket. "Now it means love forever."

_A time when a young couple's lives are just beginning._

* * *

A/N: Hope you liked it! Please review! 


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